1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for determining the dynamic performances of an encapsulating package for a high-speed integrated circuit of the logic or linear type on gallium arsenide or III-V materials. The invention is also concerned with a method for testing the dynamic characteristics of a package by means of the device in accordance with the invention.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The development of new techniques for integrated circuits on gallium arsenide (GaAs) or ternary GaAlAs compounds of the III-V family, such circuits being designed for operating frequencies above 1 GHz, calls for availability of encapsulation means having very high speed performances.
The problem presented by encapsulation of these so-called subnanosecond integrated circuits consists in assembling a component within a package without thereby affecting the intrinsic electrical performances of the encapsulated integrated circuit. In the great majority of instances, packages for this type of integrated circuit consist of flat ceramic cases or so-called flat packs. Thus French patent Application No. 82 11 399 filed in the name of the present Applicant discloses a flat pack having external connections consisting entirely of impedance-matched microstrips. This package constitutes a highly advantageous improvement in the encapsulation of high-speed circuits.
The object of the present invention is to provide a device and a method which permit measurement in situ (that is to say under real conditions of operation of integrated circuits) of the electrical performances of packages which operate at very high frequency such as those described in the patent Application cited earlier.